US repeals the net neutrality

The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) repealed net neutrality in the US on June 11, TASS reports.

This decision repeals the “network neutrality rules” adopted in 2015. Now, the Internet service providers can restrict Internet user’s access to network resources at their discretion charge website owners for providing Internet access to their websites.

The FCC adopted the decision in December 2017, but it was finally coordinated in May 2018. Democrats supported the net neutrality principle, according to which the Internet providers could not censor Internet traffic. Republicans wanted to repeal it. Internet providers were interested in the repeal of the “network neutrality rules” because they are confident that this will allow their business to be more profitable.

In May 2018, US Congress adopted a resolution to protect the open Internet, but in order for it to come into effect the US House of Representatives, where the majority belongs to the Republicans, has to approve it.

Editorial comment

As noted by the participants of the dispute, the question of who should pay for data transmission, the content recipient or the content provider, is closely related to the question of arbitrary discrimination of access to certain Internet services. If the majority of the costs begins to be shifted to the provider, then it make sense to expect the next step: free or almost free Internet for the users – and paid access to them for the content producers. Therefore, the idea of the Internet is shifting: it is no longer the means for the citizens to obtain information which is more or less regulated by their governments. Now, it is rather a marketing instrument, more or less rules free, of delivering advertising and services to the end users.